The Avengers watch Iron Man
by Meep99
Summary: Summary: Tony Stark had a very vague file. The rest of the Avengers wanted to know her story, but there was no way of knowing unless they asked. However when a small mysterious disc appears labeled Iron Man, they find out. Post Avengers movie Warning: Fem!Tony. Nobody knows she is Iron Man!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Tony Stark had a very vague file. The rest of the Avengers wanted to know her story, but there was no way of knowing unless they asked. However when a small mysterious disc appears labeled Iron Man, they find out.

Warning: Tony Stark stuck to the palm cards in Iron Man so no one knows she is Iron Man. Stony pairing. Fem!Tony

_Italic is scenes and speaking from the Movie._

Normal is the Avengers speaking and any actions they do.

A/N: I will probably start calling the Avenger team, 'the team' cos 'The Avenger Team' takes to long to write.

**Diclaimer : I do not own Iron Man, The Avengers...basically anything in this...except the way i wrote it.**

Chapter 1: Mysterious Movie

The Avengers team was having a particularly normal day.

Tony was in her workshop repairing her suit which has problems after the battle with Loki. Clint and Nat were watching TV, Bruce was in his 'candy land' workshop, Thor was eating an unhealthy amount of Pop Tarts and Steve was in the gym doing god knows what, tying to get Tony out of his head. He had only figured out days earlier that he loved her but didn't say anything to her for she seemed to still hate his guts.

At noon they had all gone to the kitchen to eat lunch, minus Tony who wouldn't come out of her workshop. Pepper had just come out of a meeting with a large migraine so she was off limits to ask for help.

They didn't expect a small DVD case labeled 'Iron Man' to appear on the table.

Nat quickly ripped out the spare gun she carried on her ignoring Clint's inquiry about 'where the hell do you keep all those guns?' and poked it. When it didn't immediately explode she put away the gun. Instead of throwing it away, she asked JARVIS to scan it so they could watch it.

As they settled on the couches a low scratchy sound was heard from the TV before loud music came from the speaker, making everyone jump.

They all watched curiously as army jeeps drive across a desert landscape.

"What are they moving? A criminal," Bruce asks.

_The scene changed to the inside of the jeep where 3 army officials were sitting and a young woman holding a glass of alcohol._

"Is…is that…Tony?" Bruce asks in disbelief.

Steve doesn't say anything, but under his skillfully blank mask was a lot of worry.

"_I feel like your driving me to court martial"_

"Yep that's Tony!"

_The army people ignored her._

"_This is crazy. What'd I do? I feel like your gonna pull over and snuff me. What your not allowed to talk to me" Tony turned to the young soldier sitting across from her. "Hey Forest."_

"_We can talk miss."_

"_Oh I see, so it's personal."_

"_No, you intimidate them," replied the woman driving, amusedly._

"_Good God you're a woman. Finally the female species is taking over the man areas. You gotta show em' how it's done. Women are better at everything. It's sad that I thought you were a soldier first."_

"_I'm an airman. And I agree us women do need to show the men how it's done. My brother doesn't approve at all. Says it's a mans job."_

"_Well then you'll just have to prove him wrong then!"_

"_Guess I do."_

_The men in the vehicle laughed._

"_You think this is funny do you?" the woman asked darkly._

"Such a bad move there. If Tony hates anything, it's definitely sexism," Nat states.

_Their laughter cut off abruptly._

"_No it's ok, laugh! Anyone got any questions? You're kidding me with the hand up right?"_

Steve Clint and Nat scowl as the young soldier to Tony's left lowered his hand.

"_Is it cool if I take a picture with you?"_

The team face palm.

"_Yes, it is very cool" Tony replied._

_The young boy looked through his pockets for a camera and handed it to the man in the front seat._

"_All, right," Tony started, "I don't want to see this on your My Space page. Please no gang signs. Actually throw it up, I'm kidding. Yeah peace. I love peace. I'd be out of the job with peace."_

Everyone but Nat and Bruce looked at the screen in surprise. Nat sighed, "Stark made weapons before." The room 'oh'ed.

"_Just click it. Don't change any settings."_

The team jumped again as a loud explosion sound came from the speakers. They all cursed.

_Tony looked surprised. "What's going on?" she shouted._

"_Contact left," the woman driving shouted, grabbing a gun. She stepped out of the Jeep and cried out in pain as she was hit._

"_Jimmy stay with Stark," the man that was supposed to take the picture shouted, kicked his door open. He ran to the front of the jeep and screamed in pain as an explosion went off. Tony cringed as blood splattered the shattered windshield. _

"_Son of a Bitch," Jimmy cursed. Tony yelled at him to give her a gun but her voice is drowned out by the next round of bullets._

"_Stay here" Jimmy yells back, making a dash outside. Another round of bullets shower the car killing the 3rd soldier._

_Tony turns and struggles to get her door open knowing that the next bullets will kill her. She makes a mad dash for a boulder and crashes against it, pulling out her phone to call for help._

The team look horrified as a bomb lands next to Tony.

_Tony stiffens as she reads the label that says 'Stark Industries' and scrambles away. Not fast enough._

_The bomb explodes and she is thrown through the air and forcefully into the ground. She starts gasping for air, _which the team can't find the reason for, _when red starts to splatter her shirt. _

The team gasps as she rips open her shirt to reveal a red, blood painted t-shirt.

"She's bleeding. So much," Nat replied. The team was surprised to find her close to tears. She looks at them sharply,"don't look at me like that, Tony is like family to me."

Steve however is in his own little world. When did this happen? Why don't they know about this? He knows his protectiveness is going to show soon so he shoves the feelings down.

_The screen turns white._

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Tony just died," Bruce said jokingly. It only made the room tenser. It was good to know that if he was going to 'hulk out' he would have already.

_A burlap sack is ripper off the camera showing Tony._

The team gasps at what they see. They would never imagine her ever being in this condition.

_Tony's eyes are glazed over as she looks at the camera. Her head rolls around on her neck showing off all the cuts and bruised covered in sand. Tony looks at the camera held by a Middle Eastern man while the other men are holding guns to Tony's head. The camera zooms out bringing into view Tony's bloody, bandaged chest. Her breasts are barely covered and the men are staring at her hungrily._

"Oh my god," Steve and Bruce whisper. Nat has a few tears dripping down her cheeks and Clint has gone white. Thor is strangely quiet, wondering what 'Lady Stark' did to deserve this. They all snap out of there thoughts as theme song music starts and the screen changes with the words 'Iron man' on it.

"Why is Tony in Afghanistan? Or in a movie called Iron Man?" Steve asks.

"Like I said, Tony was a weapons manufacturer before. She was obviously demonstrating something," Nat replied.

Bruce however, being the awesome genius that he is, had an inkling that Tony and Iron 'Man' had a lot more in common than any of them realized. He was quick to voice his suspicions to the group.

"Have any of you seen Iron Man and Tony in the same room together?"

The team goes quiet, an unspoken agreement that none of them can actually say that they have…

Whatever they were expecting to be on the disc, it definitely wasn't this.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: FLASHBACK PART 1:

Thanks for all of your awesome reviews guys. I usually suck at writing…well anything really!

Paisley13: I understand why you are confused. It completely slipped my mind when I was half way though the story that Tony hadn't told her identity so the team should have been questioning her. I'll rewrite with them questioning her more, but unfortunately, cos I am me, I will probably make it painfully obvious what changes I have made.

To everyone else: Thank you all for reviewing, it really means a lot to me. I will try to update every week but my laptops WIFI keeps doing stuff so I haven't been able to get on the internet. Not to mention how long it takes to handwrite a story, then type it up on a computer!

Also, I am having trouble keeping the time tenses from blending together. So at times, they may be different, I apologize for that, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to fix that problem. So just to make it clear, it's in past tense. I find that it would be weird if Tony was hitting on girls in the movie, especially with Steve watching, so I changed the wording a bit, like in the first chapter when they're in the jeep.

I will try to update around every 7 days unless something comes up, like a school assignment, etcetera, etcetera.

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this except the way I wrote it.**

Here's the chapter…

_"Visionary. Genius. American Patriot. Even from an early age, the daughter of legendary weapons developer, Howard Stark, quickly stole the spotlight with her brilliant and unique mind. At age 4 she built her first circuit board, at age 6, her first engine."_

The team looked at the TV in shock. They had known Tony was smart, but not this smart.

_"At age 17, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from MIT. Then, the passing of a titan._

Steve felt a wave of sadness wash over him as the news that Howard Stark died in a car crash came to him.

_"Howard Starks lifelong friend and ally, Obadiah Stane steps in to fill the gap left by the legendary founder, until at age 21, the prodigal daughter returns and is appointed the new CEO of Stark Industries."_

The team frowned as one. Who was this Obadiah Stane that he movie spoke of? Even Clint and Nat hadn't heard of him.

_"With the keys to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for her fathers legacy, creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting. Today, Tony Stark has changed the face of the weapons industry by ensuring freedom and protecting America and her interests around the globe."_

The team looked dumbfounded as the camera spiraled out to show lots of people clapping at a man that stood on the podium talking to the crowd.

_"As a liaison to Stark Industries, I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot. She is my friend and she is my great mentor. Ladies and Gentleman, it is my great honor to present this years Apogee Award to Miss Tony Stark…Tony?"_

'Where is she?' Steve thought as the man looked around, glanced at Obadiah who shook his head before rising and walking forward instead.

_"Thank you Colonel."_

_"Thanks for the save," the man muttered to Obadiah who had taken the award and was inspecting it._

_"This is beautiful, thank you. Thank you all very much. This is wonderful," Obadiah states, nodding to the camera and looking to the crowd._

_"Well I'm not Tony, I would tell you all how honored I feel and what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award…Tony, you know, the best thing is also the worst thing, she's always working."\_

The team nodded. They all knew that.

_The scene changed on the TV to Tony in Vegas, throwing dice onto a table, smirking as she won chips._

_"Work it! Come on!" she shouted, throwing the dice on the table again._

_"You are unbelievable," the man from before said in a disbelieving tone._

_"Oh no, did they rope you into this?"_

_"Nobody roped me into anything," he growled out._

_"I'm so sorry," Tony apologized half-heartedly. _

_"But they did tell me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honored."_

_"Of course I'd be deeply honored. And it's you, it's great," she replied, looking over to the woman next to her right that had a complicated hairstyle._

_"Hey…Yeah you…How'd you get your hair like that?"_

The team laughed. This was a common occurrence. Tony was always asking Nat if her hair color was fake or not, and if it was, how could she get it done.

_She turned her attention back to the man._

_"So, when do we do it?"_

_"It's right here. Here you go," glared the man. Tony started weighing the trophy in her hand._

_"There it is. That was easy…I'm so sorry," she apologized, not sounding sorry at all._

_"Yeah, it's okay," the man sighed._

_"Wow would you look at that? That's something else. I don't have one of these floating around at home," she smirks, handing the trophy to her left carelessly, and then leaning over to collect her recently won chips._

"Hey, anyone notice how Tony has never called this place, or any other place, home?" Bruce asked. Team nodded. They did notice.

_Tony turned to the woman on her right._

_"Hey, your hair has to be good luck. Give me a little something-something." She turned to the glaring man._

_"Okay, you too."_

_"I don't blow on a woman's dice," he growled, slapping her hand away with enough force that the dice are knocked out of her hand and onto the table._

_"There it is! Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes rolls! And…Two, craps. Line away."_

_"That's what happens," Rhodes muttered, looking away. Tony rolls her shoulder as her chips are taken away._

_"Worse things have happened. I think we're going to be fine."_

_The scene changes and they're walking side-by-side._

_"Colour me up William," Tony snapped to the man on her left._

_"This is where I exit," Rhodes mutters_

_"Alright."_

_"Tomorrow, don't be late!"_

_"Yeah, you can count on it."_

_"I'm serious!"_

_Tony mock waves, "I know, I know," before walking toward her car, bodyguards either side of her._

_"Render unto Caesar. That which is Caesars. There you go," Tony says fluently, tossing her award to a man dressed in armor._

_"Ms Stark, excuse me Ms Stark!"_

_A bodyguard grabs a well dressed young man by the arm._

_"Chris Everheart, Vanity Fair Magazine. Can I ask you some questions?"_

_Tony briefly looks at her driver. "He's hot," he whispers._

_Tony spun around to look at Chris._

_"Yeah, okay let's go."_

"She only answers question if they're hot?" Clint asked incredulously while Steve has a jealous rage going on inside him.

_"You've been called the 'Da Vinci' of our time. What do you say to that?"_

_"Absolutely ridiculous, I don't paint."_

The team chuckled.

_"And what do you say to your other name? 'The merchant of death'?" _

The team sucked in a breath. They hadn't known about that.

_"That's not bad. Let me guess. Berkeley?" Tony asks amused._

_"Brown actually," he replies dryly._

_"Well Mr. Brown. It's an imperfect world but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee you, the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals."  
"Rehearse that much?"_

_"Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime."_

_"I'd like to see that firsthand."_

_"I'm sure you would," Tony deadpans._

_"All I want is a serious answer."_

_"Okay here's serious. My father had a philosophy, 'Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy."_

_"That's a great line."_

_"My father helped defeat the Nazis. He worked on the Manhattan project. A lot of people, including the professors at Brown, would call that a hero."_

_"And a lot of people would call that war profiteering."_

Everyone winced as a brief flash of hurt got past Tonys mask. That comment must have really hurt her.

_"Tell me, do you plan to report on all the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology, or kept from starvation with out intelli-crops? All those breakthroughs, military funding?"_

_"You ever lose an hour of sleep in your life?"_

_"I'd be prepared to lose a few with you."_

The team 'ew'ed and covered their eyes for the next scene where Tony and Chris fall onto the bed snogging.

Steve growled.

"Tony, we didn't need to see that." Bruce says to no-one in particular

"Tony was a play-girl Bruce," Nat replied.

Everyone on the team groaned while Steve and Bruce looked a little green.

This was going to be a long movie.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: THE CAVE

Hey guys! I'm not gonna do the whole 'no, i'm not dead' thing. I really hate that! My internet really stuffed up. I heard a new saying the other day,

If Satan had a brother, his name would be Telstra!

No offence to anyone there either.

I have also been being really lazy and eveytime i get on to post a new chapter, i end up somehow browsing for a new story to read. It's really magical how that happens! I should be updating more, cos its holidays in Australia at the moment.. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!

I also thought of a new plot twist. How would you guys like it if Tony showed up in the next chapter and had to stay and watch the rest of the movie with them? That would make some really fluffly moments between Tony and Steve, cos of course, nothing to do with the pairning or anything, the only place to sit would be on the loveseat with Steve...!

So tell me if you guys would like that and i'll do that!

I have also never heard of the 'Troll of Doom' so i have absolutely no idea what to day! But i'll propbly just repost if one takes it down or something. I dont know!

Should i do Iron Man 2 and the Avengers after this? I would also like to know if anyone would want that, ive already gotten one request for Iron Man 2.

So without further adue, heres the story...

_The man lying on the bed gasped as JARVIS woke him up with a polite,_

_"Good morning, it's 7am."_

_He pulled the sheets over himself as the curtains opened._

_"The weather in Malibu is 72 degrees with scattered clouds. The surf conditions are fair with waist-to-shoulder high lines. High tide will be at 10:52am."_

_The camera rolls out showing a brilliant view from the window._

That makes the team gasp.

"When did Tony get that?" Clint asked.

"Lady Stark has a nice home!" Thors booming voice yelled.

"Inside voice Thor, inside voice," Clint muttered, covering his ears.

The team turned their attention back to the TV as Chris made his way around the mansion calling for Tony.

_"Tony? Hey, Tony" Chris walked to a wall with a keypad and experimentally pressing it. Flashing lights started, causing Chris to jump._

_"You are not authorized to access this area," JARVIS chimed in._

_"Jesus," Chris muttered, backing away from the panel._

_"That's JARVIS, he runs the house." Pepper chose that time to walk in, holding a dry-cleaning bag and wearing a frosty expression._

_Chris walked toward her with a sly grin on his face, chewing a fingernail._

_"You must be the famous Pepper Potts. I must say, you look a lot better in person."_

_Pepper put on a disgusted expression, "Ms Stark would have your head if she heard you speaking to me like that. I _am _her assistant."_

_"Oh yes, Tony still got you picking up dry-cleaning?"_

_"I do anything and everything Ms Stark requests, including occasionally taking out the trash. Will that be all?"_

The team was silent as Peppers insult sunk in. Finally, Clint broke the silence with a big yell of 'BURN.'

_The scene changed to Tony working on an engine in her workshop, covered in grease and oil with her hair in a mess._

Steve thought she looked absolutely gorgeous.

_"Give me an exploded view," she muttered to JARVIS._

_"The compression in cylinder three appears to be low," he replied._

_"Log that," she replied, continuing to work on the machinery._

The team watch mesmerized. Tony had never allowed any of them, with the exception of Pepper, to enter her workshop. They just didn't know why, although they had a feeling they'd be finding out fairly soon.

_Tony doesn't notice as Pepper walks down the steps, presses a few buttons on the keypad, or walks in, all while talking on the phone… until she turns her music off_

_"I'm gonna try again right now," she mutters into the mobile._

_"Please don't turn off my music," Tony whines._

_"I'll keep you posted." Pepper clicks her phone shut and walks over to stand behind Tony. "You are supposed to be half way around the world by now," she scolds._

_"How'd he take it?"_

_"Like a champ."_

_"Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?"_

_"Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago."_

"I can see why we are lucky to get paperwork back from her then," Steve jokes.

Bruce sighs, "Steve, stop pretending, we all know you love Tony." Steve went bright red.

'What he doesn't know is that the feelings are returned,' Bruce thought to himself, thinking of all the times when Tony visited him in his lab and went on a rampage about how awesome Steve's face was.

"Dude, you stare at her all the time!" Clint chuckled.

"Indeed, anyone can see that you fancy Lady Stark," Thor told Steve.

"Shut up," Steve growled out between clenched teeth.

"I actually think you might be good for Tony. You might be able to keep her healthy and teach her that it is possible for someone to love her," Nat responded.

In response, all she got were confused stares.

"Tell me, when was the last time Tony came out of her lab for food? Last time I saw her was about 5 days ago."

Looking at the colour draining from everyone's faces, she gathered that they had all just realized this now.

"Does she do this all the time?" Bruce asked fearfully.

"She was like that when I was working undercover here."

Nobody was game enough to talk after that.

_"That's funny, I thought with it being my plane and all that it would just wait for me to get there._

_"Tony, I need to speak to you about a few things before I get you out the door."_

_"Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"_

"Tony has a point there," Nat muttered, trying not to grimace at the menacing glare Pepper was giving Tony.

_"Larry called; he's got another buyer for the Jackson Polluck in the wings. Do your want it? Yes or no?"_

_"Is it a good representation of his spring period?"_

_"No. The spring was actually the neighborhoods in East Hampton, where he lived and worked, not 'spring' like he season."_

_"So?"_

_"I think it's a fair example. I think it's incredibly overpriced."_

_"I need it," Tony stated, cleaning her hands on a nearby rag, "Buy it. Store it."_

_"Okay, the MIT commencement speech-"_

_"Is in June. Please, don't harangue me about stuff that's way down."_

The team rolled their eyes. She said that three days before an event.

_"They're haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes," Pepper told Tony._

_"Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit is back to me."_

_"I need you to sign this before you get on the plane."_

_"What are you trying to get rid of me for? You actually got plans on your birthday this year? I don't get to take you shopping this year?"_

_"As a matter of fact I do and no, you don't."_

_"Okay," Tony sighed, "Did you like the dress I got you?"_

_"Yes I do. Thank you."_

_"Maybe you'll get yourself a man and stop babysitting me."_

_"Oh Please."_

_"You look after me way too much."_

_Pepper sighed, "Will that be all Miss Stark?"_

_"That will be all Miss Potts."_

Thor jumped as a fast Audi R8 blasted its music from the speakers before pulling up alongside a red carpet.

"I need a metal moving vehicle like that!" he boomed, making everyone jump and yell "No you don't!"

They looked back to the TV to find they missed a black car pulling up beside that Audi.

_Tony got out of the car and smirked at the other driver._

_"You're good. I thought I lost you back there."_

_"You did Miss. I had to cut across Mulholland."_

_Tony nodded, muttering, "I got you, I got you."_

_Tony walked to the lone plane on the runway, rolling her eyes at Rhodey, who was standing on top of the plane looking at Tony disappointedly_

_"What? What's wrong with you? What?" Tony questioned._

_"Three hours."_

_"I got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair."_

_"For three hours you got me standing here."_

_Tony rolled her eyes again and walked past him into the plane while saying, "Waiting on you now. Let's go. Come on."_

_The scene changed to Rhodey reading something and Tony swiveling around on her chair._

_"What are you reading Platypus?"_

Clint almost peed himself at that comment.

_"Nothing," Rhodey replied._

_"Come on, sour patch. Don't be mad."_

_"I told you. I'm not mad. I'm indifferent."_

_"I said I was sorry."_

_"Good morning Miss Stark," a flight attendant walked in saying._

_"Hi. I told him I was sorry but he…"_

_"Hot towel," the flight attendant asked._

_Rhodey sighed as Tony took the towel. "You don't respect yourself, so I know you don't respect me."_

_"I respect you!" Tony cried._

_"I'm just your babysitter. So when you need your diaper changed…thank you… Let me know and I'll get you a bottle okay?"_

(A/N: I am completely going to skip the 'drunk scene' because I find it has no importance to the movie. I also can't find a way to change it to accommodate the fact that Tony is a girl.)

_The scene changes to Tony walking down the plane stairs._

_"General," she greets._

_"Welcome Miss Stark. We look forward to your weapons demonstrations."_

_"Thanks."_

_The scene changed to Tony standing on top of a rock, overlooking a valley._

_"Is it better to e feared or respected?" she asked rhetorically, "I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present to you the crown jewel of Stark Industries Freedom line. It's the first missile mission system to incorporate our repulser technology."_

Bruce unconsciously mover forward in thought.

_"They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far. Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you, the bad guys wont even want to come out of their caves."_

"Every time a reporter mentions that missile, Tony gets depressed and doesn't come out of her lab for days. Do you think this has something to do with it?" Bruce asked.

"It's the only logical explanation for it," Nat replied.

_"For your consideration. The Jericho."_

The team watched as a missile was blasted off into the valley before dethatching itself into a dozen bombs that then blew up the side of the mountain.

_Tony walked through the soldiers to a silver case which she opened to reveal drinks. She held it up in an invisible toast, "To Peace!"_

_She got out her phone and flipped it showing a picture of Obadiah._

_"Tony."_

_"Obie! What are you doing up?"_

_"I couldn't sleep till I found out how it went. How'd it go?"_

_"It went great. Looks like it's gonna be an early Christmas."_

_"Hey! Way to go my girl! I'll see you tomorrow. Yeah?"_

_"Why aren't you wearing those pajamas I got you?"_

_'Obie' rolled his eyes as tony smirked._

_"Goodnight Tony."_

_Tony walked over to a vehicle before sitting and rolling the window down._

_"Hey tony," Rhodey called._

_"I'm sorry. This is the 'Funvee'. The Hum-Drum-Vee is back there."_

_Rhodey nodded, "Nice job. I'll see you back at the base."_

_Tony nodded, sipping her drink._

"That's the car isn't it," Steve asked quietly. Nat nodded, not trusting her normally strong voice.

_The scene changed to the jeeps exploding._

The team have to cover their ears as a blood curdling scream cuts through the speakers.

They all looking horror as Tony lies on a bench, screaming in agony, probably wishing she were dead. Blood is everywhere on her chest and Steve doesn't even notice that her breast are in full view. People poke around in her chest until a small circular metal thing is shoved into it. Someone puts a cloth on her face to stop her screaming. Tony stills , breathing raggedly, as the screen turns black.

"What were they doing?" Steve cries in agony.

"If what I saw is correct and I'm sure it is, Tony just had an Arc Reactor fitted into her chest. A very bad one a that," Bruce answered.

"Why would Tony hav- Oh," Nat stopped short.

"What?" Clint asked.

"Nothing, nothing. Stupid idea anyway. There's no way…" she kept muttering to herself.

Steve was trying to control the urge to throw a heavy object at something.

Thor had recently run out of the room, exclaiming that he didn't want to see Lady Stark in such agony.

They all sighed. They were now officially watching this movie against their will.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4: THE CAVE**

**Ok guys- I know I didn't give you much time to review whether Tony shows up or not but I want to make up for the weeks that I didn't update. I personally think it would be awesome if tony showed up and buried her face in Steves chest every now and then. But the vote was….**

**To have Tony come up from her lab.**

**If you guys want me to do movies other than the Avengers and Iron man 2, I would be more than happy to.**

**I own Thor, the Spiderman Trilogy, I don't own the Avengers YET or Captain America, um… It doesn't even have to be the Avengers.**

**I can make Katniss and Peeta read the Hunger Games books before Reaping Day if anyone would want it. Or Harry Potter and the books, but if I did that I would make Harry a girl!**

**Princessabbie10:**** Yes, Fury and Coulson know that Tony is Iron Man.**

**Frotivy:**** Thank you, Merry Christmas for whenever yours is! Fortunately I don't live near any Kangaroos, that would be awkward! I also do not plan on EVER putting my story on hiatus, I absolutely hat when someone does that. I also have to much fun when writing.**

**Dragones:**** Yes, I do acknowledge every review that I can. (Some are really short and don't really have anything in them)**

**Paisley15:**** Steve will probably feel really bad about the 'fight' scene with tony in the Avengers, but I would have done Iron Man 2 before that, so they would probably be together or close to that. I have no idea yet.**

**Liketolaugh:**** No, the scene isn't that long but Thor wouldn't have known when it was gonna end. And I always imagined that Thor would be like a little brother to Fem!Tony. He's just so childish sometimes!**

**Now, as I was writing to Paisley15, I had a thought. Does anyone know how I would change that suitcase suit scene in Iron Man 2 with Ivan Vanco and everything? I thought that maybe she could have been watching really close to the track and it all went the same from there except she went to the bathroom to put the suit on? I don't know, help would be nice! **

**I'm also gonna split up the cave scene to prolong the '****_suspense'._**** But I have both parts already written so, it's all good, there shouldn't be any delay!**

**And for future reference, the team know that Toni has a cluster of shrapnel trying to get into her heart, they just don't know that the Arc Reactor stops it, cos as far as they know, only Iron Man has one to power his suit. **

**Enough of my rambling, here ya go:**

As the movie had been playing, Tony had finished repairs on her suit and was hungry…so she was gonna eat!

"Put the suit away and Lockup, thanks JARVIS."

"You are welcome Miss Stark."

She walked into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich. Not noticing that the Team had been watching a movie. Or that it had been paused, until she sat down next to Steve. She had felt stares on her from all around and looked up.

"What?" she asked irritated.

Bruce, the ever so calm one, started first, "Tony, can you show us your Arc Reactor?"

Naturally, she started spluttering. Almost immediately.

"Pfft…I don't….Why would you think…?"

She knew she wasn't getting anywhere so she decided to push away her pride and play dumb, "What's an Arc Reactor? Something you're working on Brucey?"

"We know you have one Tony," Clint stated bluntly.

Wanting to just rip off the band-aid, Bruce nodded his head toward the screen which showed Tony lying on a bench with bandages around her chest and a blood spot in the middle.

The blood drained from Tony's face and she whipped her head around to glare at Bruce, "Where the hell did you get this?" she snarled.

Nat, who had been sitting between Bruce and Clint on the three seated couch, reached over and put a comforting hand on her knee, "It appeared on the kitchen table, we didn't know it was this."

Tony leaned back unconsciously into Steves chest (A/N Told ya!), Causing Steve to blush and put his arm around her waist.

"Do we have permission to continue watching?" Clint asked.

Tony, very hesitantly, nodded her head.

"Can you us the Arc Reactor then?" Bruce asked.

Tony took off the MIT sweater she was wearing, showing a glowing blue circle in the middle of her chest. Bruce looked at it curiously but snapped out of it when he realized it was between her breasts.

"What does it do?" Clint asked.

"Yinsen," she choked out the name, "will explain."

(A/N I'm gonna call 'movie' Tony, TONY. And 'real' Tony, TONI)

_Tony woke up with a gasp, blinking against the harsh light that invaded her eyes. She coughed and moved her hand to bat away an invisible bug, before finding a tube and pulling on it. She pulled a disgusted face as it slid out her nose, gagging before the whole thing came out. She turned her head to look at a mug that was sitting on the tale beside her before lifting her hand to grab it. She was unsuccessful as it fell to the ground with a 'clang'. _

Toni closed her eyes and let out a shuddering breath.

"Are, you ok Toni?" Bruce asked.

Toni was quick to nod her head yes.

Bruce didnt believe her, but he let it slide.

Steve could literally feel the queasiness rolling off her in waves though so he pulled her back to him so she could close her eyes and bury her face in the crook of his neck.

When Toni realised that everyone was watching her, she snapped her head up to glare at them all, "Stop staring at me and watch the freaking movie."

Needless to say, they turned back to the TV.

_Tony coughed as the scene changed to a man that was shaving in front of a mirror._ _Tony spotted him and tried to sit up, wincing as her chest is tugged against something. She looked back and found wires attached to her chest._

_"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the man stated._

"No shit, Sherlock!" Toni laughed, although there was a waver in her voice.

_Tony flinched and turned around to look at the wires connected to her chest. She then whipped her head to the car battery sitting on the table above her 'innocently.' Her hands frantically traced the wires back to under her shirt where she ripped and tore to get the bandages off. Letting out a shuddering breath, her hands traced the round corroded piece of metal imbedded into her chest, then reality caught up with her and she recoiled as if being shot at with a horrified look on her face_

"They connected you to a car battery?" Bruce asked Toni with a murderous glint in his eye.

"They had to hook me up to something or I'd be dead before I could-"she cut herself before she let her secret get out.

"Before you could what?" Clint asked.

"Nothing," she answered quickly, bravely looking at the TV as if she wanted to watch the rest of it. The team would have none of it though.

"Toni, tell us," Nat urged.

Toni let out a breath and sagged against Steve. "If this movie is what I think it is, and I'm always right, the movie will tell you."

The team turned back to the TV, satisfied with the answer.

_The scene changed to show the man cooking a disgusting brown mush over a fire, whistling softly. Tony sat nearby on the bed she woke up on, staring at the fire._

_"What the hell did you do to me?" she asked, voice raw from the screaming._

_The man looked over toward Tony as she spoke and smiled._

_"What I did? What I did was save your life," he spoke, before going back to stirring the 'food,' "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there is a lot left and it's headed into your left atrium septum."_

"That's how it happened," Bruce muttered to himself.

Steve took this moment to look and see if Toni was OK, only to see his shirt soaked with tears and a shaking Toni with her eyes screwed shut. Bruce noticed what was wrong immediately and kneeled in front of her.

"She's having a flashback. I imagine she would have been diagnosed with PTSD after she came home so this would be bringing back bad memories for her."

"What do we do?" Steve asked frantically.

"We wait it out. Try not to move. In her mind, she isn't in the Tower, she's in that cave. We're treading on thin ice here."

After 30 seconds, for Nat had paused the video, Toni calmed down enough to be able to open her eyes.

She immediately looked down and mumbled another feeble, 'stop looking at me.'

"It's cool Toni, you can't help it,"Bruce told her and sat back down.

Traumatized, they turned back to the movie.

_"Here, you want to see?" The man asked, holding a small jar up, "I have a souvenir. Take a look."_

_He tossed the jar to Tony who held it up to look at the small shark tooth like pieces and traces of spices._

_"I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the walking dead, because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs."_

_Tony looked up at the man with a broken, yet dull expression, "What is this?"_

_The mans gaze softened a little at the smallness of Tony's voice and changed the route of his gaze to the car battery then back to Tony, "That is an electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering you heart."_

_Tony looked down at it before zipping up her jacket, hiding the piece of metal from sight. Her eyes were almost immediately led to the camera that was in the corner of the cave._

_The man noticed the direction of her gaze and looked back to her before saying, "That's right. Smile," and went back to his cooking._

_There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before the man broke it, "We met once you know, at a technical conference in Bern."_

_"I don't remember," Tony replied._

_"No, you wouldn't. If I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand, let alone give a lecture in integrated circuits."_

Steve frowned. It was a known subject that he didn't like Toni's level of alcohol intake.

_"Where are we?" Tony asked._

_Before the man can answer, the door shook and there was shouting of different languages on the other side. This apparently was a cause for alarm, as the man stood up quickly and helping Tony grab the battery, before standing up, "Come on, stand up. Stand up! Do as I do. Come on, put you hands up."_

_The door came crashing down, and men came bursting in holding guns._

_"Those are my weapons. How did they get my weapons?" Tony muttered to herself._

_The man gave her a glare before hissing under his breath, "Do you understand? Do as I do."_

_A man with a black beard and white robes walked toward the front in to stand before Tony and the man. He held his arms up in a greeting and spoke in a different language then gestured to Tony's other cell mate to translate._

_"He says 'Welcome Tony Stark, the most famous mass murder in the history of America.' He is honored," Tony eyed the man wearily, "He wants you to build the missile….Sorry, the Jericho Missile that you demonstrated. This one." The man shows a picture of the missile to Tony._

_Tony looked up into the mans eyes…_

Toni launched herself at the table to get the TV remote and turn the sound down. She sat back down next to Steve who again wrapped his arms around her. Only she knew what was going to happen next.

_"I refuse."_

"NO!" Bruce yelled out, before he could stop himself. He was cut off though, as a horrible gagging sound came through the surround sound speakers.

Steves arms unconsciously tightened around Toni, who was practically wrapped around him, trying to block out the sound and picture. He glared at the television with so much hate, that everyone was suspecting it to spontaneously burst into flames.

_Tony's head was forced out of the water cursing and coughing. Before she could recover from the first round, the men forced her head under the water again, this time water getting to her chest, making the electromagnet zap her a few times. Her back arched in pain and she thrashed her head to the side to get air but her attempts were futile._

_The scene changed to Tony walking outside the cave, carrying her car battery. Her eyes were glazed over from pain and not taking in her surroundings._

_Her legs were shaking and she was still fighting to catch her breath. The camera angle changed to show the loads or crated and camouflaged mesh._

_Her 'cave mate' turned to her, "He wants to know what you think."_

_"I think you've got a lot of _my _weapons."_

_"He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile…He wants you to make a list or materials. He says for you to start working immediately, and when you're done, he'll set you free."_

_Tony turned to the bearded man, put a painfully obvious fake smile on her face and clasped hands with him, "No he won't."_

_He cave mate answered, albeit hesitantly, "No… he won't."_

_The changed to them back in the cave again, it appeared that the man was giving Tony a pep talk._

_"I'm sure they're looking for you Stark. But they'll never find you in these mountains."_

Toni laughed bitterly, "They _certainly_ didn't find me. _I _found them!"

_"Look at what you just saw. That was your legacy Stark! Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark?"_

_Tony didn't make a move, "Why should I do anything? They're just going to kill us."_

Steve recoiled at the monotone voice she used.

_She laughed bitterly, which turned into a coughing fit, "And if they don't…I'll probably be dead by the end of the week." She glared at the car battery._

_he man gave her a grim smile, "Well then, this is a very important week for you isn't it."_

* * *

**Okay guys, i changed it a little to be more 'Tony-ish'. If you guys still dont like it, sorry, but i cant change it much more! xoxo**


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5: THE CAVE PART 2**

**Okay,,. I found my USB stick. Then I lost it. Then I found it again. I'm going to update before I lose it again! I also started year 9 a few weeks ago, and my piano practicing was taking up more time, updating just didn't fit in very well for a while. I'm now off promising that I will update on time, cos I can't promise that, but I WILL TRY! Now, my email account and stuff has been playing up, I got no alerts to anything and I logged on and the thing tells me I had 367 emails. I was pretty annoyed! I also have a thing about… giving characters too much. I really don't like it. It's like, in a random example,**

**The most popular chick at a high school who is best friends with everyone and is dating the most popular boy and they're in love and nothing bad ever happens and in the end it's a happily ever after.**

**I would appreciate if you guys told me if I am doing that cos I'll fix it right away!**

**I changed the last chapter so Toni is more…'Tony-ish'.**

**I didn't change much, just made her more of a comedian and always trying to brush things off like they don't effect her. All the Stony moments are still there, so don't panic! **

**Dragones:**** Thank you for PM-ing me. I really like your idea; it's going to help heaps so you can probably count on that being in there for Iron Man 2! Unfortunately for everyone else though, you'll have to wait to hear it….mwhahahaha!**

**Thank you Pailsey15 for all of your feedback, it has helped me heaps!**

**Thank you to everyone else for reviewing and…stuff!**

**Here's the chapter…**

"You're building it?" Clint asked incredulously, looking at Toni with narrowed eyes.

"Of course not, Legolas," Toni replied with a wave of her hand, "I thought you'd have more faith in me."

_"If this is going to be my workstation, I want it well lit. I want these up. I need welding gear. I don't care if it's acetylene or propane. I need a soldering station. I need helmets. I'm gonna need goggles. I would like a smelting cup, I nee two sets of precision tools. And for Christ sakes you captured a girl, I get my period, I'm gonna need stuff for that," Tony listed off to her cave mate, who translated it to the other men._

Steve promptly turned into a beetroot at that comment.

"Toni…when they…tortured you…did they rape you? At all?" Bruce asked timidly.

Toni laughed, "Oh God no! They weren't game enough to. They knew I'd kick they're asses!"

The team sighed in relief.

_The scene changed to Tony talking to the man in her cave while _

_"How many languages do you speak?" Tony asked the man._

_"A lot. But apparently not enough for this place, they speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi and Russian."_

_Tony got the innards out of a missile and examined them._

_"Who are these people?"_

_"They…Are your loyal customers miss. They call themselves the 'Ten Rings'."_

_Tony moved onto another missile and screwed the nose off then bashed it with her hand until it came off._

_"You know," the man started, "We might be more productive if you include me in the planning process."  
Tony did nothing but make a small 'uh-huh' noise._

_She got out the wires inside and brought them to a table where she continued to tinker with it. _

_"OK, we don't need this," she muttered as she threw all but a small rectangle over her shoulder._

_"What is that?" the man muttered._

_Tony lifted up the metal for him to see," this is Palladium. 0.15 grams. We're gonna need at least 1.6 so why don't you go break down the other eleven?"_

_The scene changed to the terrorists watching the screen with a few in the background playing cards._

_The scene changed back to Tony, who was kneading something in a bowl. It then changed to metal tongs grabbing a small cup out of a blazing fire, then carefully bringing them around to a table. _

_"Careful, we only get one shot at this," she murmured, unconsciously holding her hands out and eyeing the cup._

_"Relax, I have steady hands. Why do you think you're still alive?" _

_Tony thumped her car battery on the table before the man came over with the cup, pouring the liquid into the mould._

_"What do I call you?" Tony murmured._

_"My name is Yinsen," he said back._

_"Nice to meet you."_

_"Nice to meet you too." _

The air around the team became so tense you could have cut it with a piece of cotton thread. Finally, Clint murmured a small 'oh'.

"You guys don't have to be so careful! I treasure the time I had with Yinsen, but still don't say it too often. After all, technically, most of the population here owes him their life. If he hadn't removed that shrapnel I…" Toni stopped herself short. 'Why is it so hard to keep my secret from them?' she thought 'I've never had trouble before. Even though they're gonna find out I want to stretch it out it… I think. I hope they're not mad; my nerves are all over the place, what with the movie, the team's reactions, and Steve's muscled, toned ches…Bad thoughts Bad thoughts. OMG am I blushing?!'

The team shared a _look_ at her blush and her stopped sentence. Thor decided to break the silence.

"Lady Stark, I ate all your Pop tarts."

Toni stifled a chuckle at Thors attempts to 'subtly' change the subject, before turning back to the TV.

_Tony got a small circle of the solidified liquid out of the mould and examined it, before carefully putting it in a small circular container._

_The scene changed to Tony soldering a circle of metal and wires before it faded out to show more parts elevated into the air by metal. It faded again to show Tony controlling the lighting in the cave to make the circle glow._

_She pursed her lips and looked at it in thought, before Yinsen interrupted them._

_He crouched down to look at it eye level before saying, "That…doesn't look like a Jericho missile."_

_"That's because it's a miniaturized Arc Reactor." Tony replies, bitterness in her tone._

"You…Built _that_ in a cave," Toni nodded, "In Afghanistan?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah, would've been easier in my lab, but meh!"

_"I got a big one powering my factory at home. It should keep the shrapnel out of my heart."_

_"But what could it generate?" Yinsen asked curiously._

_"If my math is right, and it always is," she continued holding the Arc Reactor up to see at eyes level, "three gigajoules per second."_

_"That could generate your heart for 50 lifetimes," Yinsen whispered in awe._

_"Yeah, or something big for 15 minutes."_

_Tony walked to a different table that held pieces of white, baking paper. _

_"This is our ticket out of here," she muttered, rearranging the paper._

_"What is it?" Yinsen asked confused._

_"Flatten them out and look."_

_Yinsen followed her instructions and his eyes widened. The see through papers were blueprints for a big metal suit._

"Holy shit…" Clint muttered.

"I am not understanding. What has Lady Stark done?" Thor asked.

"She built the Iron Man suit in a cave," Bruce answered.

_The scene changed to show Yinsen changing Tony's Reactor through the security camera TV. The light from the Reactor was just a big blue blob, but it wasn't hard to figure out what it was._

_The screen cleared from the grainy look to show Yinsen and Tony playing a board game._

_"Good roll, good roll," Yinsen murmured._

_"You still haven't told me where you're from," Tony reminded him._

_"I'm from a small town in Gulmira. It's actually a nice place."_

_"Got a family?" Tony muttered as she took her turn._

_"Yes, and I will see them when I leave here. And you Stark?"_

_Tony looked uncomfortable for a moment, but answered anyway._

_"No."_

_"No?" Yinsen asked incredulously, "So, you're a woman who has everything, yet nothing at all." _

"At least Lady Stark has us now!" Thor boomed merrily.

_Tony and Yinsen had moved off to do their own things in the next scene. Tony, who was welding, lifted her helmet and looked questionably at the group of foreign men who had walked into their cave._

_"Relax," the leader stated._

_Tony didn't._

_"The bow and arrow once was the pinnacle of weapons technology. It allowed the great Genghis Khan to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine. An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great and four times the size of the Roman Empire…But today, whoever holds the latest Stark Weapons ruses these lands. Soon it will be my turn."_

_He turned and spoke to the other men in a foreign language that Tony didn't understand. She could only watch wearily as they shoved Yinsen to his knees, turned his head sideways and picked up a hot coal with the tongs._

_"What does he want?!" she asked hurriedly. _

_"What does he want? A delivery date?" she asked again. She tried to take a step toward them, but the men shouted at her, swiping with their hands and pointing their guns._

_"I need him… Good assistant," Tony told them quickly before the coal could get to his mouth._

_The man let Yinsen go and Tony looked at him worriedly when he slumped to the ground._

_Tony jerked when the man spoke again, she had forgotten he was there. "You have till tomorrow to assemble my missile."_

Clint frowned in thought at Toni. "How did you do it though? It took you like three weeks to make the Arc Reactor."

The only reaction he got was a smirk.

_Tony was in a metal suit and Yinsen kept muttering directions to her._

_"Okay, can you move?" he asked. Tony nodded._

_"Okay, say it again."_

_"41 steps straight ahead. Then 16 steps, that's from the door, fork right, 33 steps, turn right," Tony responded. There was a banging on the door and shouting in a different language just as she'd finished._

_"Say something! Say something back to them!" Tony demanded desperately._

_Yinsen stuttered. "H-He's...He's speaking Hungarian… I-I don't…"_

_"Then speak Hungarian," Tony seethed. _

"That wasn't nice Toni," Bruce sighed. Toni shrugged, keeping her façade up.

_Yinsen shouted back. The man kept speaking in the different tongue and tried to open the door. The door exploded from the bomb Yinsen and Tony had set there and they were recoiled from the explosion and rendered unconscious._

_"Let me finish this. Initialize the power sequence oka-"_

_"Now!" _

_Tony nodded from inside the metal contraption._

_"Function 11," she commanded, "Tell me when you see a progress bar. It should be up right now. Talk to me when you see it."_

_"I have it."_

_"Press control 1," Tony stated calmly, "Now, come over here and button me up."_

_"Okay alright." Yinsen's voice sounded shaky._

_"Every other hex bolt," Tony reminded._

_"They're coming!" Yinsen panicked._

_Tony stayed calm, "Nothing pretty, just get it done…just get it done."_

"Something bad it going to happen," Nat muttered, Toni way already glaring at the other wall so fiercely everyone was surprised it hadn't burst in flames yet.

_"Make sure the checkpoints are clear before you follow me out okay?" Tony checked._

_Yinsen glances back t the laptop worriedly._

_"We need more time," he muttered, "I'm going to go buy you some time!"_

_He grabbed a gun and ran toward the door while Tony was looking frantic, stuck in the metal suit._

_"Stick to the plan! Stick to the plan," Tony shrieked to him._

_The loading bar increased its progress quickly and Tony was released._

_The men walked into the dark, seemingly empty cave carefully. In a flash of blue Arc-Reactor light, the man was flown to the other side of the room and the other joined his mates on the ground. The camera zoomed out and shoed the silhouette of a great metal suit._

"Is this Lady Stark?" Thor asked. No one had the heart to answer.

_Tony stepped out of the cave towards the back up that had come to help. They all turned around and ran the other way screaming bloody murder and effectively showing Toni the way out._

_Toni came to a door where a man was attempting to get through from being locked out._

'Bloody cowards,' Toni thought.

_Tony showed no mercy, as they didn't her, and kept pushing toward the man and pushed down the door. The was cream of pure agony as the stepped over the man, but Tony obviously paid no mind to it, or anything other than getting Yinsen and getting out._

_Tonys arm got stuck in a wall as she swung it out. A white dressed man attempted to shoot her face plate, but the bullet rebounded and hit him in the head._

"I-I…When the HELL did this happen?!" Clint asked hysterically.

"We all knew this happened Clint. Why do you think I went undercover as Pepper's assistant?" Nat asked rhetorically.

_Raza walked out from behind a sack of sand, pointing a missile at the spot Tony had appeared. _

_"Yinsen!" Tony yelled. _

_"Watch out!" he yelled back._

_Tony narrowly missed the missile that was sent her way. Tony shoots at Raza and rubble landed on him, giving Tony time to attend to Yinsen._

_Tony kneeled next to Yinsen who was laying on a pile of sandbags with blood running down his face._

_"Come on…we've got to go…Move for me, come on. We got a plan, we're gonna stick to it."_

_"This always was the plan Stark," Yinsen wheezed._

_"Come on, we're gonna see your family."_

_"My family is dead. I'm going to see them now Stark."_

_Tonys lip quivered but she didn't let the tears fall._

_"Its okay, I want this…I want this." He breathed softly._

_"Thank you for saving me." Tony's voice cracked._

_"Don't waste it. Don't waste your life," he tells her before going limp._

_Tonys face expresses her grief for a brief moment, before hardening into determination. _

_She stood up and faced the door where the other terrorists are waiting. What they are waiting for and what they find are two wholly different things. Tony looked ready to laugh at the expressions on their faces as she walked out, but she is too determined to care. _

_The group fights against their instincts to run, and fire at Tony. Tony doesn't look fazed at all. _

_"My turn," she growled before all hell broke loose._

_She activated the flame throwers in her suit and sent it at them with no mercy. People scream in fright as she walks forward, destroying everything in her path._

_100 feet from the entrance of the cave, a man hits a link in her armor sending her toward the ground. She struggled to get up, but manages. All around her is fire and destruction, but she just fiddles with a button on her arm before pressing it sending her into the sky just a the explosion blew everything sky high. _

_Halfway in the sky, her thrusters fail her and she plummets toward the earth._

"Oh my gosh. That's going to kill you," Bruce yelped.

"You're right. I died…that's why I'm sitting right here watching this ridiculous video with you all." Tony said sarcastically.

_Tony slams into the sand, sending a cloud of dust up in the air. When the sand cleared Tony was shown buried waist deep in the sand looking incredibly tired. She groans in annoyance before what actually happened comes to her and she smiles, pounding her metal covered fists into the sand._

"Lady Stark made it out?" Thor asked tentatively.

"Yes Thor, I made it out."

Steve frowned, he didn't know any of this had happened, yet he judged her, just as soon as he had met her. He was royally pissed at himself, thinking he had absolutely no chance with her now.

_The scene changed to Tony walking across a sand dune with the valley behind her. She had her jacket on her head and was covered in a blanket of sweat._

_A helicopter came into view just as she made it to the top and she waved her arms like a madman trying to get its attention._

_"Hey!" she shrieked._

_The helicopter landed and Rhodey came out looking relieved. He jogged to Tony who was close to tears._

_"How was the 'fun-vee'?" he asked sarcastically once he got to her._

_Tony chuckled weakly and Rhodey pulled her into a hug as she cried softly into his shoulder._

_"Next time, you ride with me okay."_


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6: BACK HOME AND PRESS CONFERENCES**

**Sorry about the wait guys! I received some reviews that some of you were pissed that I leave Author Notes… I'm not offended, I hate when people do that too, but I thought you'd rather know what's going on instead of sitting there reading and wondering ****_'what the hell is she smokin'?'_**

**_I am in no way whatsoever giving up on this story! _****It was just mid year exams that kept me from posting. I really suck at maths and science with the Surds (still have no idea what they are!) and Chemical equations (how the hell do you balance them anyway?!). Year 9 really sucks. But, at least I'm starting to look at career choices for after I leave school. I also recently got a job which is 3 days a week and my piano lessons every Tuesday. That contributes to the lack of posting!**

**Thanks to everyone who PM'd and reviewed and…stuff!**

**I haven't seen Iron Man 3 yet, so there aren't going to be any references to that!**

**I'm putting an ongoing Disclaimer on this so I don't have to keep forgetting and then freaking out if someone takes it seriously so… I DON'T OWN ANY SUPERHEROES AT ALL!**

**Here's the story:**

**_"Watch it, coming up here."_**

**_"Are you kidding me with this?" Tony says to the medical staff waiting next to the plane with a stretcher, "Get rid of them." They walk away._**

**_Tony and Rhodey walked down the ramp to stand in front of Pepper. Rhodey nods at her and walks away._**

**_"Your eyes are red," Tony says with a knowing grin, "A few tears for your long lost boss?"_**

**_"Tears of joy, I hate job hunting." Pepper says sarcastically, sniffing occasionally. _**

**_Tony suddenly sobers and turns toward the car waiting for them. _**

**_"Yeah, vacations over."_**

**_They slide into the car and wait for Happy to address them. "Where to miss?"_**

**_"The hospit-"Pepper starts to say before she is cut off._**

**_"No." Tony interrupts._**

**_Pepper looks startled. "No? Tony, you have to go to the hospital."_**

"Why didn't you go to the hospital Lady Stark?" Thor asked.

"You'll see…" She replied.

Nat studied Toni for a moment before a grin slid onto her face. "No, you _didn't_? No. _Yeah you did!_ Did you?"

"I have absolutely _no_ idea what you are talking about…"

**_"No is a complete answer."_**

**_"The doctor has to look at you," Pepper counters._**

**_"I've been held in captive for three months."_**

The team flinched.

**_"There are two I want. I want to get an American cheeseburger and the other-"_**

**_"That's enough of that!"_**

**_Tony sighs. "It's not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference now."_**

**_"Call for a press conference?" Pepper says in disbelief._**

**_"Yeah," Tony answers, unfazed._**

"You really should have gone to the hospital Toni," Bruce scolded.

"Didn't need to," Toni said nonchalantly.

**_"What on earth for?"_**

**_"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first."_**

"I get you guys don't understand, but that cheeseburger was like our Shwarma."

"Oh… So every time you… got kidnapped… You got an American cheeseburger?" Clint asked uncertainly.

Toni face palmed at the quiet Avenger. "No, how many times do you think I get kidnapped?" she huffed, "We always get Shwarma after battles and on Wednesday nights don't we." She got a nod from them all. "I always had cheeseburgers on Tuesdays and Pepper and we watched movies. That was a Tuesday. I'd just been held in captivity in a cave where I ate nothing but beans and soup. I wanted something _normal_. Was that _too _much to ask?!"

Clint flinched at the angry tone and opened his mouth to argue _'that wasn't what he'd meant' _but a discreet shake of the head from Natasha stopped him. He knew Toni was unstable from the things rolling out at the moment and didn't need to fuel it. He answered with a simple _no_ and Toni instantly had on a smug smile and turned back to the TV.

"JARVIS… I'm leaving it up to you to pause the movie now…" Toni commanded.

"Yes ma'am."

**_As Tonys' car stops at the conference, Obadiah runs to the car to open her door. _**

**_"Wow! Look at this! Tony! We were going to meet at the hospital!" He exclaims as they hug._**

**_"No, I'm fine."_**

"We really need to fix your definition of fine Toni," Bruce scolds.

All he gets is an eye roll.

**_"Did you get me one of those?" Obadiah asks as Tony is handed another cheeseburger._**

**_"Uh… no, there's only one left."_**

**_Tony is greeted by applause as she entered the conference room._**

**_"Miss Potts," a man in a suit says to Pepper as Tony walks to the stage._**

"Wow… You really met early then huh?" Steve asked.

"Yeah…" Toni countered with a rare genuine smile on her face.

Steve felt a surge of jealousy go through him before his reasoning mind straightened him out.

**_"Can I speak to you for a moment?" Coulsen asked._**

**_Pepper looked startled. "I-I'm not part of the…the press conference. But it's about to begin right now."_**

**_Coulsen looked amused. "I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulsen from the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division."_**

**_It was Peppers turn to be amused. "That's quite a mouthful." _**

**_"I know, we're working on it."_**

**_"Um… We've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA, Uh-"_**

**_"We're a separate division with a more specific focus."_**

"They're all crap if you ask me… no offence Clint and Nat..." Toni snapped, her voice softening toward the end.

"None taken," Nat chuckled. Clint just looked put out.

**_"We need to debrief Miss Stark about the circumstances of her escape."_**

**_"I'll put something in the book shall I?"_**

**_"Thank you," Coulsen replied before stepping away and watching the conference._**

**_"Uh…" Obadiah started._**

**_"Hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down?" Tony asked who was sitting in front of the lectern holding a burger._**

**_"Everybody jus sit down. That way you can see me and I can… Let's just make this less formal."_**

**_"What's up with the love in?" Rhodey asked Pepper._**

**_"Don't look at me; I don't know what she's up to."_**

**_"Good to see ya," Tony said to Obadiah._**

**_"Good to see you too."_**

**_Tony looked toward the reporters. "I never got to say goodbye to my father. There are questions I would have asked him. I would've asked him how he felt about what his company did. If he was conflicted. If he ever had doubts. Or maybe her _****was ****_every inch the man we all remember from the news reels."_**

Steve felt confused. Why wasn't Toni talking about the nice, incredible man he met?

**_"I saw young Americans killed… by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them… And I saw that I... had become part of a system that was comfortable with zero accountability."_**

**_Murmers shot through the crowd._**

**_"Ms Stark."_**

**_"Hey Ben!"_**

**_"What happened over there?"_**

**_"... I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up." Tony started to get up and stand behind the lectern. "That is why, effective immediately; I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be. What direction I should take, one that I'm comfortable with " This caused an uproar. The reporters were going off the roof about Tonys last statement and everything was very hard to hear. Obadiah tried to fix what Tony had said by countering it with jokes._**

**_"I think we're going to be selling a lot of newspapers! Uh... the thing that we should take away from this is that Tony's back! And she's healthier than ever! We're going to have a little internal discussion, and we'll get back to you with the follow up."_**

"Well… that was…" Clint muttered.

"Awkward and annoying?" Toni offered up.

"Not so much as annoying, ju-"

"No, it was annoying. Obadiah trying to save his own skin. Pff!" Nat interrupted.

**_The scene panned out to show a large white building. _**

"Is that the factory?" Clint asked.

"Yeah," Toni replied.

**_"Where is she?" Obadiah growled at Happy._**

**_"Inside," he drawled._**

**_Obadiah calmed himself down before he went inside with Tony. _**

**_"Well that went well," he joked, holding his cigar in his hand._**

**_"Did I just paint a target on the back of my head?" Tony asked._**

**_"Your head? What about my head?" he asked putting his hands on Tony's shoulders._**

Toni shuddered, remembering the feeling.

**_"What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is going to be tomorrow?" he continued. _**

**_Tony groaned. "About," she blew a piece of hair out of her face, "optimistically 40 points."_**

**_"At minimum!"_**

**_"Pretty much."_**

**_Obadiah crosses his arms and glares at Tony._**

**_"Tony… Ugh, we're a weapons manufacturer."_**

**_"Obie, I don't want a body count to be our only legacy." _**

**_Obadiah's gaze softened at the nickname, but hardened again._**

**_"That's what we do. We're iron mongers! We make weapons!"_**

**_"It's my name on the side of the building," Tony says stubbornly._**

**_"Our work keeps the world from falling into chaos!"_**

**_"Not based on what I saw," she said forcefully. "We're not doing a good enough, we could do better… No, we're GOING to do better."_**

**_"Like what? You want us to make baby bottles?"_**

**_"…" Tony hesitated, "I want us to… To take another look into arc reactor technology."_**

**_"Come on! Be realistic. The arc reactor? That's a publicity stunt! We… We built that thing to shut the hippies up!"_**

**_"It works," Tony growled out._**

"I sure hope it does!" Nat exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I'm not dyi-" Tony comforted.

"Anymore, Miss." JARVIS interrupted.

"What do you mean _anymore?!_" Steve yelled his eyes wide with fright.

"Just… Ugh, thanks a lot JARVIS," She turned to Steve. "There were some complications with the Arc Reactor but I'm fine now. Don't fret; the awesome person on your team isn't dying!"

The team stared in disbelief that they could not see each others affection toward the other.

**_"Yeah. As a science project," Obadiah deadpanned. "The arc reactor was cost effective. We knew that before we built it. Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end right?"_**

**_"Maybe," Tony muttered, not wanting to budge with her secret._**

**_"Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in what? Thirty year?"_**

**_"That's what they say," Tony murmured sarcastically, annoyed at the questioning._**

**_Tony stared at Obadiah, who was trying to hide his curiosity to see the arc reactor in Tony's chest, but kept glancing at the slight glow situated between her breasts._**

**_"… can you have a lousier poker face? Just tell me, who told you?"_**

**_"Never mind who told me, show me."_**

"He basically just asked to see your chest," Clint pointed out.

"THAT IS AN INSULT TO LADY STARK!" Thor boomed in outrage.

"Settle down buddy, it's not that big of a deal."

**_"It's Rhodey or Pepper," Tony stated, looking more pissed by the minute._**

**_"I want to see it."_**

**_"Okay, Rhodey then."_**

**_Tony looked around the room, and hesitantly brought her hands up to unbutton her shirt. She only opened a few buttons, but it was enough the show the small circle of blue light encased in her chest._**

All the men in the room blushed and looked away from the screen.

"Seriously guys, you see Nat's cleavage all the time," Tony pointed out.

"That doesn't mean we directly look at it. Yours is just displayed on the screen. Especially now that JARVIS has paused the movie," Clint told her.

Tony looked toward the screen and chuckled at the image. Her whole torso was splashed across the screen like it was on magazine fronts when she was in college.

"It's like College all over again," she voiced. The men blushed again while her and Nat laughed at their embarrassment.

**_"It works." Tony repeated slowly._**

**_"Look Tony, we're a team. Do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I."_**

**_"Sorry I didn't give you a heads up," she said gruffly while buttoning up her shirt again, "But if I had…"_**

**_"Tony, no more of this 'Ready, Aim, Fire' business. You understand me?"_**

**_Tony glared at him. "That was _****Dad's ****_line."_**

**_Obadiah just sighed. "You gotta let me handle this. We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat… I want you to promise me that you're going to lay low now."_**

Nat snorted. "Please, this is Toni we're talking about."

The others laughed.

"Hey!"

**_The scene changed to the living room in the mansion where Pepper was watching a TV show, scowling at the TV._**

"Ugh, here we go. The sexism at full speed," Tony exclaimed.

**_"STARK INDUSTRIES! I've got on recommendations! Ready? Ready? SELL, SELL SELL!"_**

Nat wrinkled her nose in distaste at the background tracks that were being used.

**_"Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells?! Let me show you the new Stark Industries business plane!" The obnoxious presenter on the TV hit a mug with a baseball bat. "Look! That's a weapons company that doesn't. Make. Weapons! It was bad enough with a woman running it, now they're stopping production of the things they're there for selling!"_**

**_Pepper glared at the TV. A loud ring was suddenly heard throughout the room and Pepper answered to phone to Tony._**

**_"Pepper how big are your hands?" Tony asked before Pepper could start with the pleasantries._**

**_"… What?"_**

**_"How big are your hands?" Tony asked patiently._**

**_"I don't understand. Why…?"_**

**_"Get down here. I need you." Tony coughed over the com, closing the line before Pepper could answer. Pepper confusedly made her way down the stairs and into the lab typing in the code needed to get in. She gasped at the sight of Tony lying on a chair hooked up to several machines and a heart monitor._**

"Dayum!" Clint exclaimed.

"Toni, that was very dangerous," Bruce scolded.

"Meh."

**_"Come on. Let me see them. Show me your hands."_**

**_"Oh. They are small." She chuckled but winced when the movement hurt her chest. "Very petite indeed… I just need you help for a sec…"_**

**_"Oh my God!" she hasped at the sight of the arc reactor. " Is that the thing keeping you alive?"_**

**_"It was, now it is an antique."_**

**_Tony reached over to a small tray and grasped another sleeker form are reactor._**

**_"_****This ****_is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I'm swapping it up for an upgraded unit, and I ran into a little speed bump…" she trailed off._**

**_"Speed bump? What does that mean?!" Pepper asked frantically._**

"Yes Toni," Steve started in a strained voice, "what does a little speed bump mean?"

"My hands were at the wrong angle."

"…Oh."

**_"It's nothing. It's just a little snag… There's an exposed wire under this device… And it's contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short." Tony grunted as she pulled out the old reactor, a splash of pain passing through her eyes. The heart monitor jumped in sync with Tony as she yanked the wires out of her body._**

"Oh that's gross!" Clint exclaimed.

"Thanks Clint, thanks!" Toni laughed.

"No, I didn't mean tha-"

"It's cool, it was really gross." She looked thoughtful, "All those wires having to pass through the inorganic plasma discharge from the reactor, which I could feel. Then there was the feeling that I knew the shrapnel for getting closer to my hea-"

"I do NOT want to know that!"

"But Clinty, who not?" she fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Clint just glared at her.

**_"It's fine!" Tony exclaimed before Pepper could panic._**

**_"What do you want me to do?!"_**

**_"Put that on the table over there." She said passing Pepper the old reactor._**

**_"Now, I want you to reach in and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out."_**

**_Pepper slowly inched her hand toward Tony's chest._**

**_"Is it safe?"_**

**_"Yeah, it should be fine. It's like Operation, you don't let it touch the socket wall or it will go 'beep'!" _**

**_"What do you mean 'Operation'?!"_**

**_"It's just a game, never mind."_**

**_"Gently lift the wire. Okay? Great."_**

**_Pepper inched her hand into Tony's chest hesitantly but yanked her arm back at the last second._**

**_"You know, I don't think I'm qualified to do this."_**

**_"No- you're fine. You're the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met. You're gonna do great… Is it too much to ask cos' I'm kinda…"_**

**_"Okay, okay," Pepper relented._**

**_" I really need your help here," Tony continued. _**

**_"Okay… Oh, there's pus!"_**

The team watched with uneasy stomachs as Peppers hand disappeared into Ton's chest.

**_"It's not pus. It's an organic plasmic discharge fro the device not from my body."_**

"Really Tony? Quoting yourself?" Nat asked.

"Someone had to do it eventually." Tony shrugged.

**_"It smells!"_**

**_"Yeah, I gathered that. There copper wire. You got it?"_**

**_"Okay, I got it! I got!" Pepper claimed hysterically._**

**_"Okay, you got it? Now, don't let it touch the sides when you coming OUT!" she shouted in pain as he heart monitor pulsed rapidly with the shock._**

**_"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Pepper cried out, close to tears._**

**_"That's what I was trying to tell you before… okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, you don-" Tony's back jerked off the table as the copper wire came out as well as a circular disc. The monitor started to flash red._**

"Woah, Woah, Woah! Steve you're gonna rip my _very expensive _couch with the way your holding it!" Tony cried out.

Steve yanked his arm way from the arm rest while muttering an apology.

**_"There's a magnet at the end of it! That was it. You just pulled it out." Tony deadpanned._**

**_"Oh God!"_**

**_Okay," Tony said with a laugh, "I was not expecting tha- Don't put it back in! Don't put it back in!" _**

**_"Okay what do I do? What's wrong?"_**

**_"Nothing, I'm just going into cardiac arrest cause you yanked it out like a trout…"_**

**_"What?! You said it was safe!"_**

**_"We gotta hurry. Take this, take this." She carefully handed Pepper the new reactor._**

**_"You gotta switch it out really quick."_**

**_"Okay, okay…Tony? It's going to be okay. I'm gonna make this okay…"_**

**_Tony stared at her in disbelief before she shook her head and continued to give her instructions. "Okay, you're gonna attach that to the base plate. Make sure you-_**

Tony jumped as the reactor was attached and shouted in pain, alerting the team how much pain she was actually in.

**_"…Was that so hard? That was fun right?" Tony asked breathing heavily and giving breathy spouts of laughter._**

**_"Here, I got it. I got it," Pepper said, helping Tony sit up. Tony looked at the reactor and tapped it twice._**

**_"Nice!" she nodded her head in approval._**

**_"Are you okay?" Pepper asked, eyeing her suspiciously._**

**_"Yeah, I feel great," she smirked, "The question it, are _****you ****_okay?"_**

**_"Don't ever, ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again." Pepper tried to scold, but reality caught up with her and she gave and unsteady laugh._**

**_"I don't have anyone but you. Anyway…" Tony looked at the old reactor and Pepper followed her gaze._**

The teams gaze softened at Tony's statement.

**_"What do you want me to do with this?" Pepper asked Tony._**

**_Tony shrugged as she pulled on her shirt. "That? Destroy it."_**

"Why would you not keep it Lady Stark?" Thor asked.

"I didn't have a need for it at that moment."

"…You say, 'at that moment'." Bruce pointed out.

Toni just ignored him and turned back to the TV.

**_"You don't want to keep it?"_**

**_"Pepper I've been called many things, 'nostalgic' is not one of them."_**

**_Pepper sighed. "Will that be all Miss Stark?"_**

**_"That will be all Miss Potts." _**

**_Pepper turned and walked out with her heels clicking on the concrete floor._**

**_Tony looked behind her at her desk with a frown._**

**_"Hey, Butterfingers, come here." The robot that was called came to her, its claw twisting and turning in curiosity._**

**_"What's all this stuff doing on my desk? That's my phone, that's a picture of me and my Dad. Right there- in the garbage, all of my stuff."_**

**_The Robot did as it was told and Tony turned away from the sight of the photo in the trash can._**

"…"

"Can somebody please tell my why Toni is on TV?"

Everybody turned to the voice at the door.


End file.
